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in foc us green Business Green business c o u r t e s y o f M a r k M a r i u c c i , M a r i u c c i P h o t o g r a p h y. c o m Workshop puts the focus on protecting Brown County water from climate change By Rich Redman The importance of Brown County waterways on the Green Bay area economy was one of the discussion points at a climate change workshop at St. Norbert College this fall. The event explored strategies to adapt to and mitigate impacts of climate change, particularly on water resources. A major environmental improvement effort being proposed and coordinated by the NEW Wilderness Alliance could clean up the Fox River and Bay of Green Bay Watershed, possibly even reopening Bay Beach to swimming – thus building on the region's environmental and economic health. "Often our discussion is jobs or the environment, and it really should be jobs and the environment," says Paul Linzmeyer, president of ISO International and board chair of the alliance. "We need a new kind of conversation about water with business, not-for-profit organizations, and government." And that's why Linzmeyer 42 | Insight • D e c e m b e r 2 012 spearheaded a mid-October interactive workshop called "Water is Our Oil: Adapting to Climate Change" at St. Norbert College. The workshop, a joint effort between the NEW Wilderness Alliance and the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership in Sturgeon Bay, attracted some 50 representatives of business, industry, and government agencies. The event was designed to explore strategies to adapt to, prepare for and mitigate the impacts for a changing climate in greater Brown County. Water resources were a focal point of the climate change conference. Presenter Todd Ambs, president of the River Network, a national river and watershed protection organization, pointed out that Wisconsin has 15,000 lakes – some 12,000 of which are natural. In contrast, Ohio only has three natural lakes. In addition, Wisconsin has 84,000 miles of rivers, 5.3 million acres of wetlands and 1,000 miles of shoreline. "In Wisconsin, we are woven from a fabric that is drenched in water," Linzmeyer says. "So whether you are looking at it, paddling on it, fishing in it, or drinking from it, you can do something about it." Abigail Derby Lewis, conservation ecologist at The Field Museum, discussed how Chicago Wilderness is addressing four key areas of climate change that are affecting the Great Lakes area: differing precipitation patterns (such as wetter winters and springs and drier summers), the increase in extreme storm events, an increasing number of extreme summer heat days, and milder winters. Organizers of the climate change conference knew that a massive effort would take support and involvement from a wide range of sources. So they organized conference breakout sessions around four key audiences: municipalities, business and industry, agriculture, and public health. "We know there's a role for business in adapting to climate change, and we wanted to focus on a metrics-driven process to get to triple-bottom-line outcomes," added Linzmeyer. Bill Hafs, county conservationist at the Brown County Land and Water Conservation Department, emphasized the importance of balancing the impact of agriculture w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m